Is life just passing you by?
Our third podcast is now live! And it’s available everywhere you normally listen to podcasts–iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, etc. Today we’re covering video game use, living a big life, and even how to rebuild trust after an affair. Listen in!
I know that not all of you like to listen to podcasts, and some of you like to read more. So I’m going to link to some of the resources that I talk about on the podcast, and try to do a bit of a summary!
Main Segment: Is Life Just Passing You By?
I talked in the segment this week about seeing this poinsettia when we were on vacation in Costa Rica last month:
It was huge. It was beautiful. It was amazing.
Very unlike those spindly poinsettias that we buy around Christmastime! It shows what can happen when something is given the best conditions to grow in.
I think our lives are a lot like that. God has works prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). He wants us to live a full life! But we can miss out on that if we spend our life on time wasters.
I’d invite you to read this post on how we often spend our lives:
From Let's Talk Time Wasters: Video Games, Netflix, and More!
I think we do it because we want an escape. We lead lives that are exhausting, that aren’t always fulfilling, and we want a chance to forget.
But if your basic problem is that your life isn’t that fulfilling, because you’re chronically lonely, or you feel as if you’re not doing what you’re called to do, or your relationships aren’t on track, then wasting time won’t fix the problem. It will only make your problem worse. And a spiral will begin, where your reality deteriorates, and so you want to escape even more.
I want to encourage you to spend time on things that are important, not just urgent!
Millennial Marriage: Let’s Talk Video Games!
My daughter Rebecca and son-in-law Connor recorded this week’s millennial marriage about video games. Connor’s played video games for most of his post-adolescent life, and he’s got them in good balance right now. So they talked about how that happened in their marriage.
Reader Question: I’m a Newlywed, and I Have the Higher Sex Drive!
One woman wrote in and said that she was surprised to find after she got married that she was the one with the higher sex drive. We always talk as if it’s the guy who wants sex more, but that’s not always the case at all (as I talked about in my review of how Love & Respect treated sex).
You need to find out the reasons that he may have a lower libido, but remember that it could simply be that you’re both on different end of the bell curves!
Reader Comment: How Can You Say that Love & Respect Didn’t Focus on Jesus?
I had a great comment by a woman saying that when she read Love & Respect, it was full of stuff about Jesus and full of Bible verses, so how can I say it wasn’t Jesus-centered?
Great question, and I’m glad I had the chance to answer it. Basically, we can make ANYTHING sound like it’s gospel truth when we just pick verses. The key is asking, “does the whole of Scripture support this interpretation”? And also, “what is the result of this advice in my life and other people’s lives?” Because we know that Jesus wants us looking more and more like Him, and wants us pointing other people to Him. If the way we’re acting results in enabling other people’s sin, selfishness, or disrespect, then that advice is not Jesus-centered, no matter how good it may seem.
The sum of that argument is really in these two posts:
Another Way to Look at It:
That’s what we talked about this week! I hope you have a chance to listen in. And if you’re still struggling with the Love & Respect series (I’m still getting a ton of comments coming in!), a great resource for another way of looking at our walk with Christ in our marriage is 9 Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage.
Are you PeaceKEEPING or PeaceMAKING?
There’s a better way!
Join me next week when I’ll be focusing on whether our thoughts are holding us back. And I’ll be kind of going off on another rant, too!
You’re absolutely right, Sheila. Great podcast! I’ve been wanting to read the Bible more on a daily basis, but have trouble finding what to read or often feel like I’m not getting the most out of that scripture as I could have. Any recommendations on devotionals or guided Bible readings?
I use the Daily Bible Reading app. You can choose a whole lot of different reading programs, and then it can notify you what to read that day, and you can mark off your daily readings. I’m also kinda crazy about liturgy, so I love the Northumbria Community daily prayers (you can google it!). I’m trying to be more mindful in the morning and at midday, and I find that helpful.
Thanks Sheila!! I’ll get started on those today! 🙂
I am LOVING your podcast! I run my own business, and have been listening to your podcasts while I work in my shop. It’s a bright spot in my work week! Thank you!!
Oh, I’m so glad! Thank you for the encouragement. Just recorded the main segment for Valentine’s Day (I’ll be away then so I had to record it ahead of time) and I got kinda passionate. 🙂 Hope you all enjoy that one, too!
Oh my gosh. I wasn’t expecting Connor’s voice to be that deep based on the pictures I’d seen. Okay, distraction noted, so maybe it will go away. 😃
Haha, me either!
Ha! That comment probably made him feel awesome. 🙂
Haha, yeah. It probably either made him feel awesome about his voice, or insecure about how he looks in pictures. Who knows?
Hi Sheila – I am hoping you will expand a bit with the get bored thought and translate it into get motivated. In the last year and half – 2 years we have been backing up our family towards Jesus, towards our faith, towards our church, and much bigger – reducing craziness by reducing kids activities. They now get to pick 2 extra activities per year instead 1-2 every season. I would classify us as a more christian based family. However – there is all this time now and admitily I have been bored at many times feeling like I should be doing something and dont know what and I have fallen into a body at rest stays at rest. My problem now is getting motivated. The 1% peice is how I am working it yet it feels like an uphill battle. Looking forward to hearing more on that. Thanks
I love what you have to say about sex and your general ministry. My wife and I have found them very helpful. In relation to the love and respect book discussion, you seem to advocate that women only do what Christ has to say. Do you believe in male leadership as established by God at the family level? Could you please share more of your thoughts on the leadership at the family level?
Headship is about initiative, not power. Christ very clearly said that we are not to function as the gentiles do, worrying about power and authority:
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-26)
No, we’re supposed to serve one another. The Greek word for “head” used is NOT the one that denotes power/authority. Instead, it’s one that denotes initiative, like the source of a river. There are different Greek words for head. The one that would have meant “he’s in charge and has authority” was NOT used.
Women are to be in submission to God, just as men are. Any theology which tells a woman not to be in submission to God, first and foremost, is off.
If we all chased after Jesus, prayed, and submitted to Jesus, our marriages would be awesome!
Thanks Sheila – Agreed!
Love the new podcast, but this one left me feeling super convicted about all my wasted time on Instagram! Probably just the kick in the pants I needed!